Council’s Water Asset Planning and Development Manager, Robert Horner said the line of sight from the top of the mountain to connect Nowra, Wollongong and the coast made it the ideal location for a communications tower.

By 2007 the tower had reached its structural capacity with more than 100 communications devices attached, and a new 70 metre tower was built.

“The original tower was constructed prior to the mobile phone era and much of the advanced technological equipment we have today,” Mr Horner said.

Built to meet the region’s growing communications needs the new tower cost around $600,000.

Contractors battled rain and mist as they worked to remove the old telecommunications tower from Cambewarra Mountain.

As technology continues to evolve, there will be more and more calls for access to the tower.

Council has engaged contractor, Future Engineering to undertake the work and early demolition of structures around the base of the tower have occurred over the past couple of weeks.

A large crane was used to remove the tower on Friday morning.

The tower was removed in three sections, each weighing around two tonnes.

The higher upper sections were unbolted by work crews and lowered to the ground by the crane, while the lower section was disassembled from ground level.

The new tower is used by telcos, television broadcasters, radio stations, emergency services and internet providers.

The first section of the old telecommunications tower from Cambewarra Mountain is removed.

Government departments like RMS and maritime rescue also make use of the tower as does Endeavour Energy.

It also provides communication links between Shoalhaven City Council’s facilities.

While the new tower is clearly visible on top of the mountain, to put into perspective the size of some of the antennas and dishes on the structure - the mobile phone antenna are up to three metres high, while the dishes can range from 1.2 to 1.8 metres across.